Platform construction for railway-cars.



3 Sheets-Sheet I.

Patented Oct. 8, |90l.

J. A. HiISN.

PLATFORI CONSTBUCTIDN F03 RAILWAY CARS. mppneamm med July 16, 1900.)

(No Model.)

= @jim/@awr A Il Patented ont. s, 190|,

J. A. Hl-NSN. PLATFORM CONSTHUCTIUN FUBARAILWAY CARS.

(Applicltion led July 16, 1900.)

3 Sheets-Shogi 2.

(lo Modal.)

. n f Maar/Mimo Panam out. a, Ism.'

J. A. HINSON.

PLATFUBN CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY CARS.

(Appumion med :my 1e, 1900.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No lodel.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. HINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

TPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 684,244, dated October8, 1901. Application tiled July 16, 1900. Serial No. 23,697; (No model.)

To @ZZ wiz/0771, t may concern:

Beit known that I, JAMES A. HINSON, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Platform Constructions for Railway-Cars; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to metallic car-platforms, and especially toimprovements in the framework which supports the car-platforms andtransmits the shock of the buffers and the pull of the draw-bars tothemain body of the car.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure lis a plan View showing the sills, cross-beams,and buffer of the central portion of a car end and platform and draw-barand buffer attached thereon. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectionof said car end and platform, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is asimilar section, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is an endelevation, partly broken away, of said platform with a portion of thecoupling devices removed to give greater clearness of view. Figs. 5 andb' are details showing a thrustcasting.

The device as a whole comprises a carplatform having a rigid metallicconnection, adapted to convey the thrust of the buffer directly tothemain sills of the car, said platform being supported in part on metallicdraft-sills which convey the pull or draft of the coupler to thebody-bolster of the car. Thereby the shock and strain of coupling andpulling are carried to the points designed especially to resist them,and thus the weakening effect of such forces is eliminated in a greatmeasure from the car-body proper.

Referring to the drawings, A represents as a whole the end platform ofthe car, with an outer end sill orbuffer-beam A and the usual flooringa. The lower face of said bufferbeam A is in alinement, as shown in thedrawings, with the lower face of the end sill B and the mainlongitudinal sill B of the car proper. The central portion of saidbufferbeam A is supported on two longitudinal draft-sills D, whichextend from the outer edge ofthe plat-form beneath the main sills B ofthe car tothe body-bolster M of the carbody proper. The form of saiddraft-sillsD forms a salient feature of this present application, andthe details thereof will be more particularly set forth later on. Anextensionplatform and buffer-plate,with connecting devices', extend fromthe outer face of said buffer-beam. Said bu ffer-beam A'is composite,comprising a wood beam a2, faced by a casting C. Said wood beam 0.2extends from side to side of the car-platform and rests on a horizontalmet-al plate CL3, interposed between its lower face and the upper sidesof the outer ends of the draft-sills D, said plate having the same widthas said beam a2. Said casting C is hollow, with a depth equal to thethickness of the wood beam a2 and with its outer perpendicular side orface slightly convex. Said hollow casting, hereinafter designated as thebulfer-spring box, is suitably fastened on the upper side of the outerends of the draftsills D against the central portion of the outer faceof the wood beam a2 of the platform and against the outer edge of thehorizontal metal plate a3. Said spring-box has a central longitudinalcompartment formed by two parallel cross-partitions' c on opposite sidesof the center line of the platform and equidistant therefrom, extendingfrom its inner to its outer wall. Access is had to said centralcompartment by means of a removable plate c2,

which is locked in position in the upper wall of said spring-box bybolts c3, passing through semicircular slots or grooves in its endfaces, or by other suitable meansl An elongated horizontal slot cL1extends across the face of the outer wall of said spring-box C. A'plu-frality of leaf or elliptical springs c5 are vertically secured in saidcentral compartment, with their outer ends bearing against the iunerwall of said box C and their crowns turned toward the outer Wall of-said box. Said IOO C, Said buffer-plate E comprises a flanged plateT-shaped in cross-section, whose web member comprises the vertical outerface of said flange-plate and whose central flange e is so fashioned anddisposed as to pass through the slot c4 in the outer face of thebuffer-spring box C and come into operative contact with the crown ofsaid elliptical springs c5 when said buffer-plate is thrust back out ofits normal position by heavy shock. The said buffer-plate E also has alateral flange e projeeting from its rear face parallel to and asufficient distance from the upper edge of said rear face to form arabbet, in which a horizontal plate Ve2 is laid and secured byflushheaded rivets to said fiange e. Said horizontal plate e2 projectsunder and nnderlaps a similar horizontal plate a4, which is secured in alsimilar rabbet in the upper surface of the wood beam a2 of theplatform. Said plate e2, with its overlapping and practically iiushconnection, together with its correlatve parts in a contiguous car, isadapted to cover the space between the platforms of said contiguouscars. The buffer-stems G are pivotally secured by suitable pivot-bolts gto lugs projecting from the rear face of said buffer-plate E' and passthrough guide-apertures in said buffer-beam a2. They are provided withsuitable collars C', so placed as to be a short distance beyond theinner face of said bufferbeam a2 when said rods G and buffer-plate E'are in their normal position. The outer ends of said buffer-rods G passthrough apertures in the outer ends of a jointed yoke H. Spiral springsg2 surround said rods G between said collar g' and the outer ends ofsaid ,yoke H. Said-yoke H consists of two arms h h, which are 'pivotallyconnected by a bolt 7L' at their inner ends. The rear faces of said armsbear or fulcrum against vertical shoulders t' at points approximatelymidway between said pivoted ends and said outer ends, through which saidbuffer-stems pass and with which they have spring-pressed connection.Said vertical sho uldcrs are formed on thrust-castings I,which aresecured to the upper faces of the draft-sills D and which extend fromthe inner face of the buer-beam d2 and the inner edge of the horizontalmetal plate co3 to the outer face of an angle-plate b,which faces theouter and lower sides of the end sill B of the car-body. Saidthrust-castings,which may be of cast-steel or other suitable material,are iianged and ribbed to stand end compression and by the dispositionabove described abut at their outer ends against the metal plate a3 andat their inner ends against the metal angle-plate b of the end sill B ofthe car-body, `thereby forminga direct metallic compression memberconveying the thrust of Saidbuffer and spring-box directly to thebody-sills of said car. It also serves to convey the thrust of thebuffer-stems and the yoke in the following manner: The pivot-bolt h',which connects the inner end of said yoke-arms h, likewisepivotallyseenres them to the outer end of a connection of the two endsof the yoke-arms h Y Y 71, is of a nature which permits the rotation oft Y the said outer ends forward and toward each Y' other, but does notpermit their rotation backV 75 Y beyond the line which passes throughsaid outer ends and pivot center when said arms are normally extended.In consequence of this peculiarity of construction the forward movementof the draw-bar and push-rod J moves the yoke II rigidly forward as awhole, the arms h remaining rigidly in line and compressing the springsg2 of the buer-stems, thereby shooting the buffer-plate forward. Whenthe draw-bar,with its push-barJ, starts to move back, the yoke H as awhole moves back until the rear face ofeach of the .yokearms h engagesor fulcrums on the lug 'i on the casting I.

become leversof the first class fulcrumedon the lugs z', and the outerends of said yokese V8.7511V The joint of the inner ends of Y j Y Y saidyoke-arms h then breaks, the yoke-arms Y. j

buifer-plate out. To aid in restoring the yoke- Y arms to their normalposition, a spiral spring K is inserted between the outer ends of twoYparallel lugs h2, each of which projects horizontally from the forwardface of one-of said arms 7L nearits pivoted end. Said buffing device isthe subject of Letters Patent granted me on December 5, 1899, No.638,244,11ndis not claimed in this construction. Inasmnch as saidyoke-arms fulcrum on the shouldersi of the thrust-castings I, allpressure on'the buder which does not throw it back into the buder-spring box is conveyed to the main sills of the car through saidthrust-castings I and angle-plate b.

The draw-bar F comprises the draw-head f', the bar f2, and theconnection f3.

outer end, which is situated in the usual-po- Its losy

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the stirrup-iron L, which is bolted at either end to a plate Z, whichextends acrosslthe f draft-sills between said Vstirrup-plate and theinwardly-projecting iianges of the side members of said draft-sillsafter the manner-of a sills D. Said draw-bar, with its connection,

together with the stirrup-iron L and the saddle-block Z', constitute thesubject of an ap- Y plication filed by me on the 6th day of February,1900, Serial No. 4,244, and are not claimed in this application.

Referring now especially to the draft-sills D and their construction andarrangement,

Said connection is suit- The inner end of said draw-bar is YSnpsaidsills, as shown in the drawings, are two in number and are secured tothe bottom faces of the main sills B of the car. Their outer endsproject a sufcient distance from the end cross-sill B' of the car properto give the requisite width to the car-platform A and carry thereon thespring-box Gand the bufferbeam A of said car-platform. They extendbeneath the car-body on the lower faces of the said main sills B to thebody-bolster M. Each of said ldraft-sills D consists of two side membersd and a central member d. Said side members d are made of channel-bars,preferablyof steel, and, as shown in the drawings, are arranged withtheir flanges d2 turned inwardly. The central member CZ is likewise achannel-bar, whose flanges di are suitably secured to the web members ofsaid channel-bars d along the center line thereof approximately. Saiddraft-sill D is thereby in effect a built-up T-beam, whose flangemembers are the channel-bars d, with their flanges cl2 turned inwardlytoward the center line of said T-beam and whose web member comprises thechannel-bar d', centrally secured between the tianges of said sidechannels by rivets or bolts passing through its anges and their webs.Said web member, however, does not extend the en tire length of saidsill D, its inner or rear end being a considerable distance from theinner face of said body-bolster M. It is obvious, however, that thecomponent parts of said sills may be of dierent form than thatspecified-4. e., channel-as they may be T-beams or any convenientcommercial shape, and I do not limit myself to any special form.Inasmuch as the connections of the buffer and coupler as designed put aslight part of the thrust of the buffer and all of the pull of thecoupler upon said draft-sills D, means are provided to transmit thisdirectly to the bodybolster and thereby eliminate, as far as possible,any shearing effect upon the bolts which secure said draft-sills andattach them to the main sills B of the car proper and likewise take thestrain of the draft from the main sills. The outer channels of saiddraft-sills are arranged to bear against buttress-plates d5, which areinserted between the ends of said outer channels and the outer face ofthe body-bolster of the car, said buttress-plates being suitablyrecessed to receiVe the ends of said channels, said recesses therebyalso preventing vertical displacement of said plates. Thereby any thrustof the buffer which may be transmitted through the buEer-stem g,yoke-arms 7L, push-rod J, and interposed springs to said draft-sill D iscommunicated directly to the body-bolster and does not have a shearingeffect upon the supporting-bolts of said draft-sills D. Likewise thepull of the draw-bar F is communicated through its connection f3 to saiddraft-sills D, which are arranged to be secured to said body-bolster bybolts d or other suitable means, which pass through said body-bolsterand through the upper and lower flanges of the inner side members ofsaid draft-sills. By this form of construction the shock of the bufferswhen' ears are coupled and the irregularities of stress which arise fromthe swaying of the cars and the angular relations into which they arethrown as they pass around curves or oscillate while under high rates ofspeed are transmitted directly to the main sills and body-bolster of thecar, thereby Savin g the platform portions of the frame from theweakening effects of such stresses and movements. The form of thedraft-sill unites simplicity of construction with great rigidity, thedesign being especially adapted to withstand end pressure, while theposition and design of the castings against which the yoke-arms fnlcrumand the buffer-beam of the platform bears convey the shock of couplingdirectly to the body-sills of the car, thereby relieving the draft-sillsof said pressure.

I claim as my inventionl. In a railway-car construction, a platformframecomprising a plurality of metal beams projecting in pairs beyond the carend sill, a beam between each pair having its flanges secured to thewebs thereof, and a bufferbeam secured to the outer ends of the beams.

2. In railway-car construction, a platformframe comprising two pairs ofchannel-beams projecting beyond the car end sill, a channelbeam betweeneach pair having its flanges secured to the webs thereof, and abufferbeam secured to the outer ends of the beams.

3. In railway-car construction, a platformframe eomprisin g two pairs ofchannel-beams projecting beyond the car end sill, a channelbeam betweeneach pair having its anges secured to the webs thereof, the outer sidechannel-beam of each pair bearing against the side of the body-bolsterof said car, and the inner side channel-beam passing through saidbody-bolster and being rigidly secured thereto, and a buffer-beamsecured to the end of the beams.

4. In railway-car construction, a platformframe comprising a pluralityof metal beams projecting in pairs beyond the car end sill, a buer-beamsecured on the ends of said pairs, and thrust-castings supported, one oneach pair of said beams, bearing with their outer ends against the rearface of said bufferbeam and against a plate bearing against thebuffer-spring box and with their inner ends against metal plates on theouter face of the car-body end sill, said castings being flanged andribbed to stand end compression.

5. In railway-car construction, a platformframe comprising a pluralityof metal beams projecting from the @arend sill, a bufferbeam, andthrust-castin gs interposed between said buffer-beam and the car endsill, said castings being supported on said metal beams, and havingshoulders having spring-pressed lever engagement with the car-buerwhereby the thrust of said buffer is conveyed to the car main sills.

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6. A metallic platform-frame fora railwaycar, comprising longitudinalmetal beams projecting in pairs beyond the car end sill, a metal beambetween each pair secured to the webs of said longitudinal beams by itsflanges, and a buffer-beam comprising a buffer-spring-box casting backedby a Wood beam secured to the outer ends of said longitudinal beams,said buffer beam bearing against thrust-castings interposed between itsinner face and the main sills of said car.

7. In a railway-car, a buffer comprising a vertical plate provided witha horizontal ange extending from its rear face and a horizontalrearwardly-projecting plate secured on the upper edge of said verticalplate, said buer being supported on buer-stems, and a buier-beamprovided with guide-apertures for said buffer-stems, comprisinga woodbeam extending from side to side of the car-platform faced by abuffer-spring box comprising a casting having a slot in its outer faceto allow the passage of said buiferange and a central compartmentcontaining springs adapted to engage said buEer-ian ge, said wood beamhaving a horizontal plate projecting from a rabbet in its upper face andoverlapping the horizontal rearwardly-projecting plate of said buffer,said overlapping plates with their corresponding parts in a contiguouscar being adapted to afford practically flush connections across thespace between the flooring of the car-platforms.

8. A buffer-beam for a railway-car, comprising a wood beam extendingfrom side to side of the platform, and a buffer-spring box secured tothe outer face of said wood beam, said buer-spring box being a castinghaving a central compartment formed by two crosspartitions, saidcompartment containing a plurality of elliptical leaf-springs with theircrowns turned toward its outer face, said buer-beam having a horizontalplate extending froml the upper front edge of said Wood beam adapted toslidingly overlap a horizontal buffer-plate, a horizontal slot in itsface adapted to allow the passage of the car-buer into engagement withsaid springs, and a horizontal plate on the lower face of said wood beamextending from the springbox to the rear face of said beam.

9. A metallic platform-frame for a railwaycar,comprising fourlongitudinal metal beams flanged and webbed, extending in pairs fromsecured to said longitudinal beams between-V said buffer-beam'and themain sills of saidji car, said thrust-castings bearing with their@A 1outer ends against said wood beam and a hori-VV zontal plate betweensaid spring-box and said castings, and with their inner ends against Y f'Y an angle-plate secured against the sills of said Y Cal.

10. In a railway-car platform, the combination of a coupler with fourchannel-beams extending from the body-bolster beyond the cars V- endsill in pairs, each pair being joined by a channel-beam secured by itsflanges to theV webs thereof, the outer of said channel-beams' couplerwhereby the thrust and pull of said jfl" coupler are conveyed to thebody-bolster.

11. In a railway-car platform, the combination of draft-sills, draw-bar,buffer, buer- Y 'Y V9oY stems, yoke, yoke push-romand buffer-beamwith-thrust-castings secured on said draft-77; sills interposed betweensaid buer-beam andYY the car main sills, having shoulders adapted f toengage the arms of said yoke whereby the;V` ,'95 f' thrust of saidbuffer is conveyed to said mai sills.

12. In a railway-car, the combinationof Y draft sills, draw bar, buffer,bufferbeam,

buer-stenls, yoke, and yoke push-rod'withY thrust-castings, horizontalmetal plates inter- Y posed between the forward ends of said thrust- 1castings and the buffer-beam-spring box,rand f f f roo angle-platesinterposed between the rear ends Y of said thrust-castings and the carmain sills, Y 1 Y V195 said thrust-castings being provided withshoulders engaging the arms of said yoke.

13. In a railway-car-platform rigging,a pair of butter-springs@ Woodbeam extending fromV Y Y side to side of the platform, a castinglongitudinally extending along the outer side or face of said wood beamand containing a compartment intermediate relatively to the buf- Y fersprings, said compartment having an opening in its outer Wall, anauxiliary spring in said compartment comprising a pluralityV ofleaf-spring plates with their crowns turned toward said opening, abuffer-plate normally l in engagement with said butter-springs 'andhaving a projection on its inner face nor-v mally apart from but adaptedto engage said auxiliary spring through said opening.

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In testimony that I claim the foregoing as Y my invention I aiiix mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 5th day of July, A. D.1900.

Witnesses:

GERTRUDE Boron, C. HENRY CRAWFORD.

JAMES A. HINSON.

